NALP said it was chosen because of the Industry Growth Initiative to attend the event with President Donald Trump to reiterate its commitment to grow the lawn and landscape industry and expand training opportunities for more than 150,000 people over the next five years.

“We were honored to be invited to the White House to make our commitment to expanding employment opportunities for American workers known,” said NALP’s vice president of public affairs, Missy Henriksen. “There is a misperception that jobs in this industry are all seasonal labor positions. While those roles are absolutely critical to the important work that lawn and landscape companies do every day, the truth is, our $82 billion industry offers a wide array of lucrative opportunities and career pathways, including many management and executive roles, across the country. We hope this event will shine a spotlight on industries like ours which have committed to not just filling jobs, but to providing lifelong careers for hardworking Americans.”

Under the direction of the president’s executive order, the Pledge to America’s Workers focuses on expanding programs that educate, train and retrain American workers, NALP said.

The event was held in celebration of reaching the administration’s goal to expand training opportunities for 6 million American workers under the pledge. The association was represented by NALP President Jeff Buhler of Massey Services, CEO Sabeena Hickman, Missy Henriksen, and Reynaldo Valle, field manager, and Jillian Gottlieb, assistant field manager, of member company Ruppert Landscape. Also in attendance were Larry Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council; Ivanka Trump, who leads the National Council for the American Worker; and key members of the Cabinet and U.S. Congress.

Under the pledge, NALP said it will continue its efforts to attract employees to the landscaping industry and expand employment opportunities through enhanced technical training, certification and accreditation programs and apprenticeship training.